Thanks to a renewed fervor on the forecheck, the Oilers punched their ticket to the Western Conference Final on Monday night. Zach Hyman, the team’s most diligent forward in pursuit, was on a different mission. Instead of devoting his energy toward regaining the puck, he was hellbent on protecting it.
The 31-year-old winger buried the Canucks in the DZ for much of the contest—not only generating offense for his own club but also dashing the opposition’s plans.
His ability to lug the puck off the wall and into the middle of the ice was instrumental to Edmonton’s dominance over the first two periods:
In anticipation of contact upon retrieval, Hyman (EDM 18) turns his back to Phillip Di Giuseppe (VAN 34) and digs his heels in to absorb the check. He then uses that momentum to propel himself forward, creating separation by standing his ground. That 6’1”, 206-pound frame comes in handy here.
Hyman’s bully-ball approach would later manufacture a goal:
Bracing for the collision enables him to neutralize a defender once again, as he posts up and rolls off Filip Hronek (VAN 17) before connecting with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (EDM 93) to initiate the attack.
As the puck reaches world-class point shooter Evan Bouchard (EDM 2), Hyman splits a pair of Canucks (VAN 24 and 43) to win inside position and deflects the wrister past Arturs Silovs (VAN 31). Notice how he stays in his backskate throughout the entire sequence. He has his eyes on the prize the whole time and is rewarded with a huge 2-0 marker.
To Vancouver’s credit, it did battle back to make things interesting. Unfortunately for Rick Tocchet’s men, Hyman was still as heavy on the puck late in the third frame as he was to begin the contest:
With ~3 minutes left in regulation, he drips crucial seconds off the clock in vintage Hyman fashion. Get low and wide along the boards. Rather than aiming to improve the condition of the puck, however, he simply dares the opposition to take it from him. Three Canucks are required to eventually wrench it free.
That strength at the point of attack prevented Vancouver from finding a rhythm in Game 7. He was all over the puck, all night. By the time the Canucks got the ball rolling against softer competition, they’d exhausted their runway.
In all situations, Hyman registered 5 shots, 3 high-danger chances and 1 goal. A team-leading 66.3 xGF% at 5-on-5.
Here are the full highlights: